transforming the way we tell our story
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Transforming the Way We Tell Our Story Idaho Housing and Finance Association
Communications: Annual Report
HFA Staff Contact Benjamin Cushman
2021 Annual Awards for Program Excellence Entry
Idaho Housing and Finance Association Transforming the way we tell our story Communications: Annual Report
Transforming the way we tell our story
Every year, Idaho Housing and Finance Association has the unique privilege of sharing in the achievements of thousands of our Idaho neighbors. And while that mission to showcase our success stories remains, the way we deliver those results to the hundreds of loyal partners around the state is evolving. Building on our monumental shift in 2019 to an all-digital platform, we set out to make our annual community report even easier to understand and to explore.
For 2020, we focused on building a site that is more interactive, user-friendly and relevant. It still allows us to highlight how our organization and our statewide partners have made a difference for our Idaho neighbors. The new format immediately draws you in with a colorful page filled with animated elements that help the site stand out from a traditional web page. The design takes the next step in our digital transformation, transitioning away from a stagnant online booklet to an interactive multimedia information source that is a useful, helpful educational tool that is shareable with our partners and other stakeholders.
Digital format is replicable
Despite our new design taking a large step up in its look and functionality, the bulk of the work for our new design was still done in-house by our six-member communications team. That makes the design something any HFA, even those with a small staff like ours, can replicate. The video production – from scripting and planning to shooting and editing – was done by two staff members. Similarly, all the written content and graphics were done in-house. An in-house video editor designed and built the layout you see below, including all of the animated elements on the home page. The only work that that required a third-party vendor was the overall website framework and hosting.
Idaho Housing and Finance Association Transforming the way we tell our story Communications: Annual Report Engages Targeted Audiences
The focus of our community report remains the people we serve, as well as the why behind what we do. Idaho Housing’s communications team collaborated with our partners throughout the state to find the most compelling stories from among the diverse people and interests we help serve. In this year’s report, readers learn:
- How our work with a Southeast Idaho city helped transform a local landmark into an affordable housing option for people in that community.
- How a public-private partnership helped build the state’s first permanent supportive housing development based on the Housing First model.
- How a program that helps small businesses across Idaho qualify for financing gave a sod farmer the boost he needed to grow his company.
- How Idaho Housing is teaming up with REALTORS™ and lenders to promote sustainable homeownership for Idahoans through our Finally Home! homebuyer education program and affordable loan programs.
For some, these real‐world anecdotes are the first chance they have to get to know some of the people we help every day. For others it’s an opportunity to take a look at the depth and breadth of what Idaho Housing and our partners do. Because we focused on telling these stories through video and interactive graphics, we’re no longer telling them about the impact of projects, we’re showing them.
The new look makes it much easier for the reader to find these real-world stories. On the home page, they will find several bullet points. Hovering over each of them reveals a different focus of Idaho Housing and Finance.
Clicking on a bullet point will take the reader to a new page, where they can see examples of the work we are doing to address needs throughout the state. While top-level content is presented visually, the layout makes it easy for those who want to explore topics in more depth.
Idaho Housing and Finance Association Transforming the way we tell our story Communications: Annual Report
Achieve measurable results
The report was used throughout the year as a tool to help Idaho Housing communicate its mission to elected officials, business and community leaders, media and our partners. We promoted the site with a yearlong marketing campaign that leverages our social media channels, email and our partner network. The result was an approximately 15 percent increase in audience reach vs. our print-only product. Audience engagement on social media outperformed our average benchmarks by roughly 5 percent.
Benefits outweigh costs
The production costs for going all-digital have been less than half of what it used to cost us to do a printed booklet, and changing to a more interactive design did not change that. The relatively modest investment more than justifies the results. The investment looks even better when you include the fact that we are getting more mileage out of it. Instead of mailing a booklet, which can easily get lost or be thrown out, we showcase our accomplishments throughout the year. Since our in-house team did most of the work, the editorial and approval process was more efficient and less time-consuming while giving us greater creative control over the finished product.
We are very proud of our work and how it has helped deliver our message to new audiences. We invite you to take a look at https://communityreport.idahohousing.com/. Thank you for your consideration.